The present invention relates to an imaging device and an imaging method, which is used for an imaging processing mechanism of a digital camera in particular, and is applicable to mobile electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), and a toy that have an imaging device.
In recent years, digital cameras have been widely used. One of the features of a digital camera is that a picture is freely created by a user while imaging or after imaging. And as such a creation technique, “a miniature faking photography technique” is known, in which a landscape photograph that has been imaged normally is created as if a miniature scale model was imaged at a close range. In many cases where the above technique is executed, retouching software for image editing is used and some procedures are taken. And additionally, a packaged software that makes it easy to execute the miniature faking photography has also been disclosed.
Actual methods by using the retouching software are as follows.
1. Forming an image in which contrast and saturation are high by increasing contrast and saturation of a photograph. (Improving a hazy-like state of an image which is seen in many landscape photographs and the like.)
2. Setting the depth of field shallow, that is, setting an in-focus range narrow, in the case where the depth of field is deep, that is, a range of an in-focus distance is wide. (Blurring an area other than that of a main photographic subject to be out-of-focus.)
By the above methods, anyone can easily perform “the miniature faking photography technique” on imaged photographs.
In Japanese patent application publication number 2009-27298, and a published Japanese translation of PCT international publication for patent application 2008-529322, a technique is disclosed that obtains an image in which a background is blurred like a portrait photograph in such a manner that an AF (autofocus) area is determined, and a blurring operation is performed on an area other than the AF area. However, Japanese patent application publication number 2009-27298, and a published Japanese translation of PCT international publication for patent application 2008-529322 discloses that the blurring operation is performed, but do not relate to a miniature faking photography, and a blurring area is not specified.
However, performing an image processing operation by use of the above retouching software on a PC (personal computer) is a troublesome task for a user.
In the case of performing the miniature faking photography by performing the image processing operation on an image after imaging, an in-focus area which is in focus is not changed, because the in-focus area in the image after imaging has been determined.
That is, as to a processing software in the case of performing the miniature faking photography, a miniature faking photograph is obtained in such a manner that a main area to look like a miniature scale model is set by a user, and a blurring operation to blur an area other than the set main area as a blurring area to be out-of-focus is performed.
However, in the case where the in-focus area and the main area set by the user are different, if the miniature faking photography is performed on the image after imaging, there is a case where an area to look like the miniature scale model in the image is not in focus, and therefore there is a problem in that an effect of the miniature faking photography is not obtained precisely.